All posts tagged Africa

On a recent trip to South Africa, Questlove, drummer and bandleader for The Roots, says he relearned a valuable lesson that he’d almost forgot – the reach of music across continents and cultures.

Associated Press

Questlove is pictured at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York last year.

The artist, also a DJ and record producer, was asked by Oprah Winfrey to perform at the party for the first graduating class of her Leadership Academy for Girls - a request he balked at, worried he would have to censor himself in front of dignitaries and the teenage students.

“I learned the biggest lesson of my life that night,” he said in a recent interview with Speakeasy. “Never underestimate the power of the absolutely potent substance that is hip hop.” The students knew more about his music than he anticipated, and he was reminded of how music can endure.

Sharing hip hop with the world, and giving fans an opportunity to engage directly with artists, was one of the original aims of Okayplayer, a music site Questlove started in 1999. Conversation was promoted with community boards and the site provided valuable exposure for new audiences. Okayplayer’s offshoots include the Caribbean-lifestyle site LargeUp, jazz site The Revivalist and Okayafrica.

Okayplayer’s latest project is “Player Xchange,” which will pair African and U.S.-based artists and task them with collaborating on a track, which they will then record at Williamsburg recording studio, Converse Rubber Tracks, profiled by The Wall Street Journal when it launched in July 2011. Read More »

It’s tough being an ant. First, there’s the work–it’s constant, there’s no health-care plan, and definitely no 401 (k). Then, if you happen to be a silver ant in the Sahara, there’s the baking sun, which can fry your tiny body in just ten minutes. In the episode of the Discovery series “Africa” airing on Feb. 5th at 10 p.m. we see how silver ants have to hustle to get their jobs done–before they get fried by the relentless heat. If you think working at your cubicle is tough, just watch this. Read More »

Speakeasy has already seen some of BBC/Discovery’s coming seven-part series “Africa,” and there’s no doubt we’ll watch the rest when it starts airing on Jan. 8 at 10 p.m. Maybe our favorite thing about nature documentaries like this is the way they anthropomorphize everything with voice-overs which take you inside the heads of the animals. It’s fascinating to watch this clumsy leopard miss out on a series of meals while narrator Forest Whitaker gives a detailed play-by-play that suggests the beast’s thoughts: “He’s blown it! A good opportunity like that won’t come around very often.” We’re thinking the leopard is probably really thinking FOOD FOOD FOOD. But that wouldn’t make for TV that was as interesting, right?

Watch the clip after the jump–and a video of a giraffe fight. Read More »

One of the toughest things about making a nature documentary like the coming BBC/Discovery Channel series “Africa,” you might think, is standing by dispassionately while a cute animal is eaten by a not-so-cute animal.

“Africa” executive producer Mike Gunton, who also worked on the hit series “Life,” says the filmmakers on such projects don’t warn animals of danger even if they’ve been following them for months. Read More »

Two weeks ago, actress and singer Patti LuPone grabbed a cell phone out of the hand of an audience member who was texting during a performance of her current play, "Shows for Days." The bold move led to an outpouring of support from fans fed up with glowing screens. Ms. LuPone gives us her five rules of theater etiquette.